2014 Fall Semester- Week 7

Introduction 1.Whole-person learning means that teachers consider not only their students’ intellect, but they also have some understanding of the relationship among students’ feeling, physical reactions, instructive protective reactions, and the desire to learn. 2. The Community Language Learning Method takes its principles from the more general Counseling-Learning Approach developed by Charles A. Curran. 3. A language counselor does not mean someone trained in psychology; it means someone who is a skillful “understander” of the struggle students face as they attempt to internalize another language.

Experience (1) 1. The teacher use the students’ native language to tell them what they will be doing in the class. 2. The students are going to have a conversation in English with his help. 3. The conversation will be tape-recorded, and afterward, they will create a written form of the conversation- a transcript. 4. The students say what they want to say in their native language, and the teacher will give them English translation.

Experience (2) 1. Only the English chunks in English are recorded. 2. After the conversation, when the students listen to the recording, their sentences will sound whole. 3. After the conversation has ended, the teacher sits in the circle and asks the students to say in their native language about the experience.

Experience (3) 1. Another class– The teacher asks students to move their chairs into a semicircle and to watch as he writes the conversation on the board. 2. The teacher writes line by line, numbering each English sentences. 3. The teacher asks students to stay focused on the words being written up when he is writing.

Experience (4) 1. The teacher writes all the English sentences and their equivalents. 2. The teacher reads the English conversation three times, varying the instructions each time. 3. The teacher plays the role of Human Computer. 4. The teacher asks the students to work in groups of three to create new sentences based upon the words and phrases of the transcript.

Experience (5) 1. The teacher asks students to share the learning experiences of the class. 2. The teacher decides to have the students continue to work with the conversation they created. 3. The teacher and the students working on the ‘be’ verb with persons and numbers. 4. The teachers and the students shares the sentences that the students have created. 5. The students take turns to read the transcript. 6. The students reconstruct the conversation they have created.

Thinking about the experience(1)  Principles: 1. Building a relationship with and among students is very important. 2. Any new learning experience can be threatening. When students have an idea of what will happen in each activity, they often feel more secure. People learn non-defensively when they feel secure. 3. Language is for communication. 4. The superior knowledge and power of the teacher can be threatening. If the teacher does not remain in the front of the classroom, the threat is reduced and the students’ learning is facilitated. Also this fosters interaction among student, rather than from student to teacher.

Thinking about the experience(2) 5. The teacher should be sensitive to students’ level of confidence and give them just what they need to be successful. 6. Students feel more secure when they know the limits of an activity. 7. Teacher and students are whole persons. Sharing about their learning experience allows learners to get to know one another and to build community. 8. Guided by the knowledge that each learner is unique, the teacher creates an accepting atmosphere. Learners feel free to lower their defenses and the learning experience becomes less threatening.

Thinking about the experience(3) 9. The teacher ‘counsels’ the students. He does not offer advice, but rather shows them that he is really listening to them and understands what they are saying. By understanding how students feel, the teacher can help students gain insights into their own learning process as well as transform their negative feelings, which might otherwise block their learning. 10. The students’ native language is used to make the meaning clear and to build a bridge from the known to the unknown. Students feel more secure when they understand everything. 11. The teacher should take the responsibility for clearly structuring activities in the most appropriate way possible for successful completion of an activity. 12. Learning at the beginning stages is facilitated if students attend to one task at a time.

Thinking about the experience(4) 13. The teacher encourages student initiative and independence, but does not let students flounder in uncomfortable silences. 14. Students need quiet reflection time in order to learn. 15. Students learn best when they have a choice in what they practice. Students develop an inner wisdom about where they need to work. If students feel in control, they can take more responsibility for their own learning. 16. Students need to learn to discriminate, for example, in perceiving the similarities and differences among the target language forms. 17. In groups, students can begin to feel a sense of community and can learn from each other as well as the teacher. Cooperation, not competition, is encouraged.

Thinking about the experience(5) 18. The teacher should work in a non-threatening way with what the learner has produced. 19. Developing a community among the class members builds trust and can help to reduce the threat of the new learning situation. 20. Learning tends not to take place when the material is too new or, conversely, too familiar. Retention will best take place somewhere in between novelty and familiarity. 21. In addition to reflecting on the language, students reflect on what they have experienced. In this way, they have an opportunity to learn about the language, their own learning, and how to learn from one another in community. 22. In the beginning stages, the ‘syllabus’ is generated primarily by the students. Students are more willing to learn when they have created the material themselves.

Review the principles and techniques Answer the 10 questions based on the observation of techniques and principles Recording student conversation Transcription Reflective listening Human computer Small group tasks

Conclusion 1. ‘Learning is persons,’ which means that whole-person learning of another language takes place best in a relationship of trust, support, and cooperation between teacher and students and among students. 2. ‘Learning is dynamic and creative,’ which means that learning is an ongoing developmental process.

Homework for week 7 1. e-portfolio: Life journal- Copy and paste the principles from the PPT 2. e-portfolio: wiki- Whole person learning 3. e-portfolio: picture- Charles Curran 4. Upload the PPT file to your resource center